Louisiana Bull Rider Set to Compete at $1.6 Million PBR Bud Light Cup World Championships

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- The countdown has begun for Louisiana
bull rider Chris Shivers. The Jonesville resident is less than one week away
from battling the world's toughest bulls and most talented bull riders at the
$1.6 million Professional Bull Riders Bud Light Cup World Championships,
Oct. 26-29 in Las Vegas's Thomas and Mack Center.
Shivers, 21, enters the World Championships ranked No. 1 with 9,138.5 Bud
Light Cup points accumulated on the 2000 Bud Light Cup Series presented by Las
Vegas. The 5'3", 130-pound bull rider earned $252,120 in the PBR's regular
season and has a chance to double that figure with a solid performance at the
four-day World Championships. Shivers needs to earn $117,031 at the World
Championships to become the first PBR athlete to eclipse the $1 million mark
in PBR career earnings. More importantly, Shivers is the top contender for the
title of 2000 Bud Light Cup World Champion and 14-karat gold buckle that
signifies the tremendous feat.
It won't be an easy mission, though. Superstar Ty Murray of Stephenville,
Texas, is ranked second behind Shivers in the PBR Bud Light Cup point
standings and is undoubtedly one of the world's best bull riders under
pressure. At the 1999 PBR Bud Light Cup World Championships, Murray put
together one of the most impressive performances in PBR history to win the Bud
Light Cup World Championship event title and $263,283 in just four days of
competition. Murray, 31, enters the 2000 Bud Light Cup World Championships
with 7,808 Bud Light Cup points.
Other top contenders looking to upset Shivers' chances at a world title
are Tater Porter of Kenansville, Fla.; Ross Coleman of Molalla, Ore.; Adriano
Moraes of Sao Paulo, Brazil; Michael Gaffney of Albuquerque, N.M.; and Owen
Washburn of Lordsburg, N.M. Moraes, Gaffney and Washburn each has claimed one
PBR world championship title and is looking to become the first athlete in PBR
history to win a second world title.
The PBR Bud Light Cup World Championships will be broadcast live nightly
on The National Network (TNN) Oct. 26-28 at 10 p.m. and Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. (all
times are Eastern). A preview of the World Championships airs on TNN Oct. 25
at 10 p.m. (Eastern time). More information on Shivers and the entire roster
of PBR Bud Light Cup World Championship bull riders is available on
http://www.pbrnow.com.